Investment management

Nurturing your wealth

Retirement checklist

The clock is always ticking and time can pass in the blink of an eye. But however far you are from retirement age, you’re never too far from it being an appropriate time to plan for those later ‘golden’ years.

How shiny your years are though depends entirely on how much planning has gone into ensuring you have enough to live on. As well as the retirement age increasing, we’re also living longer – and we won’t be able to work forever.

To help you, we have created a checklist of the elements you will need to consider.

Date plan

When do you want to retire? Consider the rising retirement age, new pension freedoms, and how much you can save over the time period.

Evaluate the here and now

How much time do you have before you plan to retire? Look at your current income and financial commitments and consider how you will continue to fund your life as time goes on: you might need to get used to a different pattern of income as well as a different amount.

How much might you have?

Get an estimate of how much you might have saved for your retirement. Look at all your pension savings (both workplace and personal, including any final salary schemes) and get a state pension statement from the gov.uk website too.

Know your options

Pension freedoms can be a double-edged sword, creating more confusion and indecision. Before you access your pension savings we would suggest that you take advice from a qualified Financial Planner.

Where do you want to be?

Where do you plan to live and will your home play a part in shaping your future?

Your future lifestyle

Work out what your costs might be in retirement and consider your living costs as well as how much extra you might like to spend on yourself.

Update your Will

Or make one if you don’t already have one. Lives change as we age and it’s important to keep your Will up to date so it reflects your current life.

The priority for most people as they get older is ensuring they have enough money to live on in retirement. If you’re still working but starting to think about your retirement, consider reducing any debts you may have: mortgage, credit cards etc.